Oil burner



March 14, 1944. J. EAST ErAL 2,344,398

' OIL BURNER Filed Dec. 14, 1940 2 sheets-sheet 1 KSN v ATTORNEY March 14, 1944. J. EAST ETAL on. BURNER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 14, 1940 ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 14, 1944 OIL BURNER John East, Ira J. Shelton, and Hermann R.

. Harris, Detroit, Mich.

Application December 14, 1940, Serial No. 370,184

(ol. 15s- 9.1)

3 Claims.

This invention relates to oil burners and the object of the invention is to provide a new and unique form of oil burner in which an air stream is directed downwardly against a. vaporizing burner plate and the flame directed downwardly and outwardly toward and against the furnace walls. 1

Our improved oil burner includes a burner plate having a conduit through which oil discharges to the burner and the volume of iiow of oil and air per unit Vof time is thermostatically controlled to produce a high, or low flame depending upon the temperature of the area required to be heated and in the preferred arrangement of parts.

The oil conduitextends into a housing which shields the conduit from the name ofthe burner and is also subject to the temperature vof air owing to the burner to thereby keep the oil conduit lower in temperature than the temperature of the burner parts.

In accordance with our invention the burner is mounted with a cylindrical casing positioned within the combustion chamber of a furnace and the casing is open at the bottom for discharge of air therefrom in mixture with the products of combustion downwardly and outwardly from the casing into the furnace combustion chamber.

These and other novel features of the invention are hereinafter more fully described and claimed and the preferred forml of construction of an oil burner embodying our invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which- Fig. 1 is an elevation showing the burner as nstalled in a furnace. n

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus as mounted in the furnace shown in horizontal section.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the oil burner Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

5 is a vertical section of a solenoid shut-o valve.

Fig. 6 is a vertical section of a solenoid metering valve.

As shown in Fig. 1, the burner is positioned in a furnace I, having the usual ring opening 2 and i a plate 3 for closing the same. The furnace has the usual grate 4 which, so far as the operation of this burner is concerned, may be an impery the burner plate 25. The upper surface of the.

forate plate to thus maintain the products of combe introduced andis supported.

The apparatus consists of the burner indicated at 5, an air conduit 6, a blower 'I for discharging air through the conduit -6 to the burner and secured in position in the furnace as by releasable straps 8 or other convenient means. 'I'he blower 1 has a side opening 9 for air and a plate I is movable toward the opening 3 to vary the volume of air flowing per unit of time to the blower. The said-blower is operated by an electric motor Il and airis driven through the conduit 6 having a valve l2 controlled in position by a solenoid I3 to thus vary the volume of flow of air per unit of time to the burner.

With a low flame, less oil is required for com- 'bustion purposes than is required when the burner is at full llame. The oil supply conduit is indicated at Hl which enters the lower part of the housing l5 enclosing the motor on one side and providing a lchamber I6 on the other side for the valve structures vI'I and I8 to which the conduit I4 discharges by ,the conduit I9. Oil passing through the Iconduit I9 passes the valve Il and thence to theY valve l Ifrom which the oil discharges to the main conduit 20 lwhich terminates in a downwardly directed portion 2 I to the burner. The lower end of the portion 2|V is threaded in the body 22 of the burner anddischarges oil Ato the cross-channels 23 and `2li in the upper face of burner plate is plQvided with a series of concentric ribs 26, 21 and 28 in spaced relation as shown and these ribs areseparated thus providingcrcss channels 29, 30, 3l and 32. Oil discharging to the channeled surface of the plate from the cross channels 23 and 24passes into the grooves between the ribs and is thus distributed over the plate surface. Y

The burner is housed in a casing 33 open at its lower end. The casing is of a diameter somewhat greater than the diameter of the burner plate thus providing a space between the outer periphery of the burner and the inner surface of the casing 33. T he upper end of the casing is' provided with` an imperforate cover member 34 through which the tube 2| extends' and thence downwardly through the hollow standard 35 formed integral with the burner in the construction here shown. i

` One side of the said standard 35 has an opening 36 and air is discharged into the upper end of the casing 33 at one side of its vertical axisas will be understood from Fig. 4 whereby air is given a whirling motion and some of the air may pass through the opening 36 and around the oil tube 2| tending to'maintainv the temperature of the tube below that which would vaporize the oil therein. By turning the hollow standard 35 on its vertical axis the opening 36 may be turned toward or away from the air inlet to vary the volume of air flowing through the opening 36 and by such adjustment the temperature of the tube may be varied The air discharged by the blower into the casing 33 has not only a whirling motion but flows downwardly over the surface of the plate and carries the products of combustion downwardly through the open end of the casing 33 and thus downwardly toward the bottom of the furnace (as will be understood from Fig. l) from which the said products of combustion pass outwardly and upwardly in the directionof the name lines indicated at a in Fig. 1. The products of lcrombustion thence pass in the usual way through the exhaust iiue of the furnace (not here shown).

The motor II and solenoid of the valve I1 are in the electric circuit 31 and the solenoids of valves I3 and I8 are in a circuit 46 having a thermostatic contact 38 so that the operation of the burner is controlled by variation in temperature of the space being heated, it being understood that the thermostat switch element 38 is in the said space- On closing the circuit 31 by the hand operated switch 31a the motor Vis energized, the solenoid valves I3 and I1 are energized to open the air valve I2 in the air conduit 6 and open the oil line I9 to ow. The solenoid valve is indicated at I1 in Fig. 5 and the plunger Ila is raised on energization of the solenoid to permit flow of oil in major volume per unit of time to the conduit I9 and thence to the solenoid valve I8 shown -in Fig. 6. This valve is a metering valve and is similar in construction to that shown in Fig. 5 in respect to the plunger and aperture controlled thereby. It further has an additional aperture 44 which is adjustable by a metering pin 45 indicated in Fig. 2 to'restrict the flow through the aperture 44 to a minimum quantity per unit of time required for low ame condition at the burner. This solenoid valve I8 is in the parallel circuit 46 having the thermostatic switch 38. yOn demand for more heat in the space being heated the thermostatic switch 38 closes thus raising the plunger 41 of the solenoid valve I8 providing for maximum fiow of oil to the burner.

It will thus be seen that through the use of the several solenoids and the circuits individual thereto that the burner will operate either under a high or a low flame depending upon the requirements for heat in the space being heated by the burner and it is also to be understood that the electric circuit disclosed is merely a typical circuit and other character of electrical circuits and control elements may be utilized to the end that a high or low flame condition at the burner is produced in response to the varied requirements for heat in the space to beheated- It is further pointed out that once the burner is started and even at low flame condition the burner plate becomeshighly heated and the lower end of the oil tube 2| likewise becomes heated suiiciently, at least, to partially or even wholly vaporize oil discharging through the channels 23 and 24. Thus once ther burner is in operation, it operates practically like a gas burner and any ungasied oil fiowing into the channels of the burner plate 25 will be immediately gasifed. The gases in combustion are blown downwardly in a swirling motion through the open lower end of by discharge of air through the tube 6 at one side of the center of the said casing.

Preferably there is a hand operated shut off valve I4a. in the oil conduit I4 leading to the solenoid valve I1. This valve is merely a safety means for closing the oil conduit which, in normal operation of the burner when under demand of low flame, is closed by the valve controlledby the solenoid I1.

From the foregoing description it is believed evident that the various objects and features of the invention are attained by the structure and arrangement of parts as shown and described and that various changes may be made in the parts in their position and arrangement without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as iset forth in the appended claims.

Having thus fully described our invention, its utility and mode of operation, what We claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In an oil burner, a cylindrical casing -positioned with its axis in a vertical -plane and having an open lower end, means for discharging air tangentially thereinto adjacent the upper end, a burner plate within the casing below said air discharging means and having an oil retaining upper surface, an oil tube extending downwardly into the casing from the upper end and adapted to discharge oil onto the burner plate, a hollow vertically positioned standard connected with the burner plate and through which the oil tube extends, said standard having an opening on one side thereof, means supplying air to said air discharging cmeans,A said air passing tangentially into the casing and spirally downward over and themember 5,.th`e Vswirling motion being produced l75 above the oil retaining upper surface of the burner plate and dischargingA theproducts of combustion downwardly and outwardly through the open lower end of the casing', the said opening in the standard permitting a portion of the air entering the casing to discharge into the standard about the oil conduit, means in the oil conduit providing for flow of oil to the burner plate in constant volume per unit of time, and thermostatically controlled means within the space to be heated for increasing the volume of flow of oil per unit of time'on decrease in temperature in the said space whereby a high or a, low flame may be provided at the burner depending upon the temperature of the space being heated` 2. In an oil burner; a cylindrical casing positioned with its axis in la vertical-plane and having an open lower end, means for discharging air tangentially therento at the upper end to thereby cause the air to pass spirally downward in the casing and to discharge through the lower open end, a burner plate within the casing in peripheral spaced relation therewith and having an oil retaining surface, a vertical tubular member extending above and supporting the plate within the casing, the said tubular member having an opening on one side and being adjustable about its vertical axis to .variably position the opening therein towardv or from the inowing air stream to permit a desired volume of air flowing into the casing vtoy enter the'member, and an oil supply conduit'ex'tending downwardly in the tubular extension and thereby subject to the-temperature of the air flowing into the Ymember through-the said opening and discharging oil to the oil-retaining surface of the ,burner plate.

3. In an oil burner, an yair conduit, a hollow cylindricalhead having its axis'in a-vertical posupplying oil to the upper surface of the Vaporizing plate, and a blower for discharge of air through the conduit into the head over the vaporizing plate.

JOHN EAST. IRA J. SHELTON. HERMANN R. HARRIS. 

